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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28808307">A Kind Word, A Gentle Touch</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooBusyHuntingDragons/pseuds/TooBusyHuntingDragons'>TooBusyHuntingDragons</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Hurt/Comfort, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:26:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,387</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28808307</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooBusyHuntingDragons/pseuds/TooBusyHuntingDragons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Will returns to Araleun from Skandia, he is not the same boy he was when he left, and Halt can see it plain as day. Halt longs for his old apprentice back, and knows it will take time and care before his apprentice will smile again. Hurt/comfort and light whump.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Greetings all. This is my first Ranger's Apprentice fanfiction, which I was inspired to write after starting to re-read the series. I'm a sucker for hurt/comfort and whump, and the series offers some great opportunities to explore these genres. So I wanted to try my hand at writing some. It is still in progress, and though it's mostly a oneshot, I would like to upload some more chapters in the future.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Will stood at the steps of the veranda of Halt's cabin, as if he were uncertain to take the steps. Halt watched curiously from the stables where he tended to Abelard. It was Will's first time returning home after Skandia, and he looked about as it were his first time seeing the house. He looked cautiously to the woods, then to the house, and then hesitantly to Halt, though his eyes did not linger long. Halt was reminded of a frightened animal as Will slowly took in his surroundings. The boy had not been the same since they had been reunited. Evanlyn had revealed some of Will's struggles to Halt at their reunion, including the boy's warmweed addiction. But Halt was sure that there was more that Evanlyn had not revealed to him- either she was reluctant to say or perhaps even she did not know the full extent of what Will had suffered. Either way, Halt was perceptive- Rangers had to be, and he knew there was a great deal of anguish going on beneath Will's brown eyes. Eyes that had once carried the spark of joyful youth but now were dull and downward cast. Will seemed to realise he had been standing in the one spot too long and hurried up the stairs. Halt moved to join Will inside the cabin. Will seemed a little more comfortable inside, and Halt hoped the familiarity of the house would be of comfort to Will.</p><p>"Coffee, Will?" Halt asked tentatively. Will was silent, his eyes roving over the sparse furniture before being drawn to the window.</p><p>"Will?"</p><p>The boy's attention snapped to him. He looked haggard and painfully tired.</p><p>"Oh. Yes, thank you," he mumbled before moving to his room to deposit his supplies. Halt sighed as he moved to boil the water in the kitchen. Will had been painstakingly quiet on the passage home. Before Skandia, Halt had sometimes wished for an occasional reprieve from Will's constant questions and talkative nature. But now it was gone, it was sorely missed. Halt wished he knew what was going on in the boy's mind, if only to help him overcome it. After all, he was so young, far too young to deal with such a burden alone. It made Halt's heart ache.</p><p> Halt sat with the boy on the veranda of the cabin, watching as the sun began to dip behind the trees in the distance. Will grasped his mug with both hands, eyes forward and now unmoving. He remained this way for some time before Halt could bear it no longer.</p><p>"How are you feeling, Will?" he asked.</p><p>"It's...good to be back," Will replied, his recently monotone voice wavering ever so slightly with emotion.</p><p>"That's good. You should retire early, tonight. You look like you need extra sleep."</p><p>Will nodded, but said nothing. He did not continue the conversation further. Halt, sitting next to Will, gave the apprentice a sidelong glance.</p><p>"Are you...okay, Will?" he asked. Will looked back at him curiously.</p><p>"Why do you ask?"</p><p>"I know you had a rough time of it in Skandia. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Halt continued. Will turned his eyes back to the forest,</p><p>"Oh. Yea, I'm okay," he said, unconvincingly. Halt nodded slowly,</p><p>"If there's anything you need, or anything you want to talk about..."</p><p>"No," Will shot back curtly, "No," he said again, this time softer, "I...don't need to talk about anything."</p><p>Halt raised an eyebrow, but didn't pursue it further. It would come in time, if it needed to. Instead, he let the boy finish his coffee in silence. Once the sun had fully set and darkness was starting to creep in from the trees, Will rose with a deep breath.</p><p>"Goodnight, Halt," he said, turning inside without waiting for a response.</p><p>"Goodnight, Will," Halt responded softly. He waited until he heard the solid click of Will's door shutting inside before quietly letting out the stream of curses that had been waiting on his lips all afternoon. Something was wrong, and Halt felt powerless to change it. It was not something he was used to, and the fact that it involved Will made the pain a hundred times worse.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Nightmares</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was sometime in the early hours of the morning when Halt was roused from his sleep. Rangers were trained to wake at the slightest noise, so Halt found himself wide awake at the muffled thump he heard through the wall from Will's room. He laid awake in bed for a few moments, but no sound followed. He told himself it was simply Will knocking something from his bedside table. But only a few moments later, the silence was punctuated by a pained cry. Halt bolted from his bed to Will's room, where the young boy was tossing and turning in his bed, eyes squeezed tightly shut, but not so tight that the tears could not escape from them.</p><p>"Will!" Halt shouted, darting to the bed. Will was muttering incoherently through sharp, shallow breaths. Halt grasped his apprentice's shoulders, shaking him gently to try and awaken him.</p><p>"Will, wake up, you're okay," he soothed, but the words fell on deaf ears.</p><p>"No, no, please, no more," Will sobbed, still unconscious to Halt's presence. Halt shook him a little harder, realising Will was deep in the throws of terror.</p><p>"Will, I'm here. Halt's here."</p><p>Will's eyes snapped open, and for a moment they were filled with fear. Halt had never seen anything like it on Will's face before. He had seen Will afraid- he remembered the boy's terror of the Kalkara. But nothing like what he saw in his eyes now. It made Halt's heart break in two.</p><p>"Halt?" Will stammered, his eyes softening slightly as they turned to regard his master. Halt nodded.</p><p>"Yes, I'm here Will. You're home, and safe."</p><p>Will's ragged breaths began to slow. Halt didn't say anything as the boy calmed down, but retained his firm but comforting grip on Will's shoulders. Will let out a long breath, and closed his eyes.</p><p>"Halt I'm...I'm sorry, I just," he said weakly, eyes moistening again.</p><p>Halt gently shushed his apprentice,</p><p>"It's okay, Will. You don't need to be sorry. Just breathe for a moment."</p><p>Will slowly breathed in and out, and Halt felt the boy's rapid heartbeat start to slow to a normal pace, but he could still feel the tension in the apprentice's shoulders taut as a bowstring. Halt realised Will would not be getting back to sleep soon, so instead he gently urged the boy up.</p><p>"I think some calming tea might be in order."</p><p>Will didn't protest, and let himself be led into the cabin's main living room by Halt. Halt deposited the still nervous boy on the couch before moving to make some tea for the stricken apprentice. While he was in the kitchen, to his surprise he heard Will speak.</p><p>"It was Skandia, Halt," he said. Halt returned to the apprentice as the water boiled, lowering himself down to look into Will's eyes.</p><p>"I was back there. In the yard. And they..."</p><p>"And they what, Will?"</p><p>Will pulled the blanket around him tighter. As he did, the corner of it fell a little on his left shoulder. Underneath, Halt spotted the unmistakable ghostly lines of scars. Things began clicking into place.</p><p>"Oh, Will," Halt said, his own voice wavering with emotion. Halt was usually a master of stoicism, but even he could not contain the equal parts of grief and anger that ravaged him at the sight of his battered apprentice. Halt reached out to the shoulder of Will's nightshirt, and gently pulled it down. Will flinched at the action, but did not stop him. Halt turned Will slightly to get a better view. Criss-crossed across Will's back were lines and lines of straight, white scars. Halt bit his lip, trying to contain the fury that rose in him.</p><p>"They did this to you," he said, voice barely louder than a whisper. It was a statement, not a question, but Will answered anyway.</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>A shuddering breath filled Halt's chest, but he maintained his composure, for Will's sake. He looked his apprentice in the eyes. Will looked downtrodden, even ashamed.</p><p>"I promise I will never let anything like that happen to you again," Halt promised. He took Will's trembling hands and squeezed them assuringly. Will looked up,</p><p>"You promise?"</p><p>Halt nodded.</p><p>"And we will get through this, together," Halt continued. Will nodded, a wobbly smile returning to his lips. It had been the first time in many days Halt had seen him smile. It warmed his heart.</p><p>"I don't want to be a pain," Will said.</p><p>"Will, you will never be a pain," Halt assured, "I care about you, more than anything."</p><p>It was a rare show of affection from the stoic Ranger, more than Will had ever seen since meeting him. But it was more comforting than anything he had said to him ever before.</p><p>"Thank you, Halt," Will croaked. Halt placed a hand on Will's shaggy head before returning to the kitchen to see to the tea.</p><p>"Halt?" Will called after him,</p><p>"Yes, Will?"</p><p>"Don't go."</p><p>In that moment, Will seemed far younger than the teenager he was.</p><p>"I'm not going anywhere, Will."</p><p>Will seemed satisfied by Halt's response, and let the Ranger return to the kitchen. When Halt returned to the living room, two mugs in hand, he saw that Will was miraculously asleep on the couch. Halt pulled the blanket up over the thin frame of his apprentice, and took up a spot on the chair nearby.</p><p>"I'm not going anywhere," Halt murmured to himself as he leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. Until the sun rose, he would not leave Will's side. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Broken</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Halt awoke to the first chirps of the birds outside the next morning, Will was still fast asleep on the couch. It relieved him to see the peaceful and steady rise and fall of Will's chest. The rest of the night had gone without too much interruption, save for the occasional mumbles and mutters from Will in his sleep. Halt knew he had an appointment at Castle Redmont early that morning, and had intended to bring Will along. But he knew he would have to leave early, and he was reluctant to wake the sleeping apprentice. He knew Will needed all the sleep he could get until his ravaged mind and body recovered. Halt gave will more time as the sun rose higher, hoping the boy would wake before his departure. But even as the cosy living room of the cabin was flooded with light, Will remained slumbering. Halt paced back and forward for another half an hour, consuming another two cups of coffee. Guessing it was close to 9am, he knew he could not wait much longer before departing.</p><p>"Will," he whispered softly. The boy stirred a little, but did not awaken. With a sigh, Halt found some paper and scrawled a note for his apprentice.</p><p>"At Castle Redmont. Will be back by midday. Halt"</p><p>He left the note next to the sleeping apprentice. Halt found himself overcome with apprehension as he prepared to leave, anxious for Will's mental and physical state when he would wake. As he saddled Abelard, he promised himself that he would limit his time away from the cabin to a bare minimum. With once glance back at the house, Halt urged Abelard into a canter towards Redmont.</p><p> </p><p>Will slowly forced open his sleep crusted eyes and hazily became aware of where he was.</p><p>
  <em>It's not cold, so it's not Skandia.</em>
</p><p>His body gave an involuntary sigh of relief. As the last mists of sleep fled his mind, he became aware that he was in the familiarity of the ranger's cabin. He was home.</p><p>Will slid out from underneath the blanket as his bare feet touched the wooden floorboards. They hardly made a sound at the touch, for Will was light as a feather.</p><p>"Halt?" Will hesitantly called, but there was no response. Will tuned his ears to search for any sound that might indicate the grizzled ranger was nearby, but he could hear nothing but the sounds of the forest outside. Panic began to rise in Will's chest. He knew it was foolish, but over the past few weeks he found himself helpless to quell the waves of fear and panic that would wash over him whenever the slightest thing felt amiss. He knew there was nothing wrong, but the dark corners of his mind had something else to stay. Those dark corners were still trapped in Skandia. Will gripped the edge of the couch he had been asleep on with a shaking hand.</p><p>
  <em>He's gone, he's gone, he's gone.</em>
</p><p>The words echoed around his skull, taunting him. No, he couldn't be gone. Halt wouldn't. Will told himself that over and over. Eventually, the panic began to reside a little, and Will's senses calmed. It was only then he noticed the slip of paper on the table. As Will read Halt's note, his shoulders sagged with relief. He felt foolish now at the outburst. He should have known better than that. Will shuffled towards the kitchen. He should have known better for a lot of things. As he began to prepare a pot of coffee, he found his mind wandering again. On the journey back from Skandia, everything seemed hard. Too hard. The slightest troubles were mountains of effort. Halt was patient with him, but Will struggled to be patient with himself. Deep down, he knew he had a lot of recovering to do. But he couldn't help but think how much easier it would be to succumb to the exhaustion that followed him like a ghost.</p><p>
  <em>Succumb. Just like you did to the warmweed.</em>
</p><p>Will's hand gripped the kettle tightly at the thought. No, he had to fight back. He would not let himself become like that ever again. Because if he did, Will wasn't sure if he would be able to pull himself back.</p><p>After finishing the coffee, which was a sad attempt compared to Halt's brews, Will decided it was best to keep his mind occupied. When he was busy, those dark thoughts seemed to be quiet. He fetched his bow and arrows from his room and stepped outside into the pleasant morning sun. Tug whinnied a greeting from the nearby stables. He seemed to be glad to his see his master up and about, or at least as glad as a horse could seem. The light seemed a little too bright and the sun a little too hot, but Will stepped up to the training range with determination regardless. He was a ranger's apprentice, and he had a duty to his master to make that title mean something. </p><p>Will grimaced as the last arrow flew wide of the target, disappearing into the scrub beyond. It was clear his skills had waned considerably during his time in Skandia, and it angered him. After all the practise and effort he had dedicated to the craft, it was infuriating that it should vanish with a few weeks of non-use. Will threw the bow to the ground, harder than he intended. His arm ached from the training, not used to drawing the bowstring so much. Will was also surprised to find his breath harsh and shallow after the effort of training. It seemed his skills were not the only thing that had waned. His very body had withered and weakened over the past few months, a mere shadow of his prior self. Will held up a hand against the morning sun, searching for the arrows that had missed his targets. With a sigh, Will trudged through the bushes and grass and collected the stray arrows. But on a final count, he found one missing. Will looked up and saw the final arrow lodged in a high branch in the tree above the target. Will turned, ignoring the arrow. He knew he could retrieve it at another time. But Will paused, glancing back at the arrow. It taunted him, swaying with the branch in the breeze. It was a show of his poor shot, and if it remained in the tree, would be a reminder of his weakness. Will's heart caught in his throat at the thought of what Halt would think of such a poor shot. Without another thought, Will moved to the tree and began clambering up its trunk. Thankfully, his climbing skills were ingrained in him from childhood and had not suffered the same degradation as his archery. Despite the slight faintness that floated through his head, Will found handholds and footholds easily. It didn't take long for him to reach the branch in which the arrow was buried. Will inched along the branch, reaching out for the taunting arrow. His fingers brushed the feathers of the arrow, but he could not get a grasp. Grunting in frustration, Will edged further along the branch. But as he reached out a second time, he felt his weight shift forward with his arm, and immediately regretted the action. A loud snap echoed through the clearing as the branch supporting Will broke clean in two. Will yelped as he plummeted through the foliage, the sticks and branches clawing at his face on the way down. And when he finally reached the ground, he was met with another snap, though his one coming from his arm. Will howled as a burning pain shot up and down through his arm, causing stars to burn in front of his eyes. He tried to get up, but was met with another wave of nauseating pain. Now panting in shallow breaths, Will glanced to his forearm, which appeared to be bent at a painful angle. Blood streamed down his arm from a gash higher on his arm. Tears welled in Will's eyes, at both the pain and his own stupidity. He should've known the branch wouldn't have supported his weight; he usually made such judgements as easily as breathing. But everything about him now was slowed, broken or ruined. Will sobbed. He would never be the same, he thought. And there was nothing he could do. Another chest wracking sob ran through him, shifting his arm. Will felt woozy as the leaves above him seemed to blur behind pain and tears. And then they disappeared into blackness.</p><p>Halt returned later than he anticipated, after being bogged down in meetings with Baron Arald and the others. Even seeing Lady Pauline, while pleasant, had not been enough to calm his frayed nerves. Pauline had certainly noticed how out of sorts Halt seemed, but had no time to question him on it, as he had been out the door and remounted on Abelard the second the meeting had finished. As Abelard trotted into the clearing, Halt did not think to look to the long grass behind the archery range, but instead hurried inside, eager to check on his apprentice.</p><p>"Will?"</p><p>He looked around and saw the discarded blanket lying on the couch. There was half a pot of brewed coffee on the stove, which was comforting as it meant Will had been active enough to brew a drink. But Halt found his tension growing as he found Will's room also empty. But his keen perception noted that Will's bow and quiver were missing from beside his bed. Halt stepped back outside and looked to the range where Will trained. But there was no sign of the boy. Halt was the type of person to keep his calm in any situation, but he could feel his heartbeat quickening in fear as Will's absence become more apparent.</p><p>"Will!" he shouted, his voice ringing through the clearing. No response. It was then he noticed Will's bow, discarded at the front of the range. He strode over and picked up the recurve. It was still strung. He turned to the range, now scanning the tree line frantically. Anyone else would never have spotted the mottled green lump lying in the grass, but Halt's trained Ranger eyes noticed it in an instant.</p><p>"Will!"</p><p>Halt hurried over to the unmoving figure in the grass. He turned the figure over to find Will, unconscious and bleeding over a swelling arm. Halt gently pressed Will's forearm, and winced as he found the clear break in the bone.</p><p>"Oh, Will, what did you do," Halt muttered. He pressed the break gently again to try and gauge the severity when Will's eyes shot open and the boy gave a panicked and pained cry.</p><p>"Halt! Halt, where are you!" Will cried as he clambered back to consciousness.</p><p>"Will, I'm here," Halt responded. Will calmed slightly as he realised the presence of his master. He was breathing hard through his nose.</p><p>"Halt. I'm sorry. The branch..."</p><p>Halt stopped the boy from talking,</p><p>"It's okay. We can deal with that later. For now, we need to get you inside."</p><p>Will nodded.</p><p>"Right."</p><p>Halt gentled helped the boy get to his feet. Will faltered, threatening to faint again.</p><p>"Easy now, hold on," Halt said. Unsure of Will's steadiness, Halt brought one arm around Will's back and the other around his legs, lifting the boy into his arms.</p><p>"Halt, it's fine, I can...ach...walk," Will protested, a sharp hiss of pain punctuating his words. Halt did not respond. He expected another protest from the apprentice, but instead the boy simply grabbed his fist into Halt's cloak in a white knuckled grasp. Halt bounded up the steps back into the cabin, and gently laid will back down on the couch, making sure the broken arm was lying unobstructed on Will's chest. Beads of sweat were forming on the boy's forehead.</p><p>"We'll need to splint your arm to prevent any further damage," Halt explained, throwing open the cupboard in the kitchen where he kept medical supplies, "And that cut may need stitches also."</p><p>Thinking quickly, Halt grabbed a numbing salve from the cupboard, hoping it would make the setting of the bone easier on the boy. Without thinking, he quickly removed the lid from the small clay container. Immediately the room was filled with a heavy, herbal scent. Halt immediately knew the scent, his heart dropped. He looked up at Will, whose eyes had gone wide in both recognition, and fear as he stared at the jar. For he was suddenly ensnared by the bitter scent of warmweed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Need</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Halt..." Will stammered. Quickly realising his mistake, Halt slammed the lid back down on the container, but even so the scent continued to linger in the air. Halt hurried over to Will's side and placed his hands gently on either side of Will's head, turning the boy's gaze away from the container which had suddenly seemed to command his attention.</p><p>"Look at me, Will," Halt said softly, but sternly. He knew he had just put Will in a very precarious position. The boy didn't seem to be entirely there, his wide eyes were open and fixed on the warmweed salve, but were not perceiving it. Instead, it seemed Will was far away. Far away in the yard at Skandia as the bitter scent brought back cruel memories.</p><p>"I remember, Halt," Will muttered almost inaudibly, "I remember that smell..."</p><p>"Will, be strong. Don't let it get to you," Halt said. Will's lip started quivering.</p><p>"It's back...it's going to happen again, I know it," he rambled. Suddenly, his eyes turned from the salve to Halt, and instead of fear, Halt was met with anger.</p><p>"Why is it here? Why do you even have it!" Will hissed. Halt knew this was not his Will talking to him now, but the Will that was slaved to both Skandian and drug. The Will he hoped had been left behind.</p><p>"It doesn't matter, it's gone now," Halt assured, but Will was not convinced.</p><p>"How do I know? How do I know you don't have it here on purpose?"</p><p>Halt blinked in surprise,</p><p>"You know I would never do anything like that, Will. Why would I do something like that you?"</p><p>Will paused for a moment, his usually kind and youthful face unsuited to the anger on it now.</p><p>"Because...that's just what happens," he said slowly.</p><p>"Not here. Not with me," Halt responded, sounding each word slowly and surely to drive the reassurance home to his frazzled apprentice. Will was still disoriented as his brain tried to process both the cabin and the memories of Skandia at the same time.</p><p>"Even though..." he began.</p><p>"Even though what, Will?"</p><p>"Even though, I'll never be a ranger now," Will said in a long breath. Tears glittered in his eyes. Halt's eyebrows shot up.</p><p>"Don't say such things, Will. You are already becoming a greater ranger than most ever where at your age, and likely even greater than many older than yourself. There is still much to do, much for you to learn, but..." Halt said, pausing as he sought the right words, "But I promise, you will be a ranger. No matter what happens."</p><p>Will frowned,</p><p>"Look at me, Halt. How could I be a ranger like this?" he said, becoming distressed. Halt did not like how his eyes kept flicking back to the warmweed behind him, but he ignored it for now. He took Will's shaking hands,</p><p>"How? Because you have shown more resilience and more bravery than anyone I've met in the corps. Skills may fade and wane, Will, but you have the spirit of a ranger. That's what matters most."</p><p>Halt knew Will's skills would return, and he knew that Will knew it too. But to rebuild a shattered confidence was far harder. Halt did not usually offer such strong praise, but he knew that Will needed it now. The only way Will's faith in himself would be restored if it received a little nudge in the right direction. Will paused, seeming to take in the words. He went to speak but was interrupted as a spasm of pain shot through his arm.</p><p>"But first thing first, we need to fix this break," Halt said gravely. Will nodded weakly.</p><p>"No warmweed?" Will asked fearfully. Halt nodded in agreement.</p><p>"No warmweed."</p><p>The apprentice appeared both relieved, and a little remiss at the response. As much as his mind hated the drug, Halt knew his body would still crave it. And being in its presence, if only momentarily, would not have helped.</p><p>Halt gently lifted Will's broken arm, trying his best to not let the whimpers of pain that emitted from Will get to him. He softly ran his hand along the boy's forearm and once again found the painfully swollen section that indicated where the fracture was. It was just below his elbow, and thankfully the bone had not pierced the skin. It would be a simple enough mend, but without the numbing salve it would cause Will a lot of pain, but Halt would not risk triggering Will's addiction again.</p><p>Halt quickly gathered what he needed - a straight, strong piece of wood to splint the break, bandages, a wet cloth to combat the burning fever that was starting to ravage Will's forehead, and another rolled up piece of cloth that the boy would need to bite down onto if he didn't want to accidently bite though his own tongue. Halt had set broken bones before- he vividly remembered the time he had done the same for Gilan when he had been his apprentice. It had been difficult then, and it was difficult now. Yet Halt found himself struggling with the process far more in this instance. Will had become like a son to him, and the thought of causing any sort of pain to him, even pain for his own benefit, nauseated Halt. He did his best to maintain an impassive expression as he prepared the procedure, but in truthfulness Halt wanted to cry. And he could count on one hand the number of times he had cried since childhood.</p><p>With the cloth on Will's head and in his mouth, Halt finally set to the grim task ahead of him. His hands returned to the spot of fracture, and he carefully felt to the two ends of the broken bone. Even the slightly pressure made Will squirm under his grasp.</p><p>"Please, Will, try not to move," Halt said, his voice a fraction away from betraying his emotions. But Halt was strong, and he knew Will was too. Halt found the break again, and gently took a hold of Will's arm as he began to manoeuvre the bone. Will's eyes squeezed shut as his cry of pain was muffled by the cloth he bit down into.</p><p>"That's it Will," Halt said, sweat forming on his own brow. He just needed to manoeuvre the bone back into position so it would heal correctly. It would be a quick action, but Will began thrashing under his hold. Halt pressed down on Will's chest while holding his arm in the other, hoping to subdue the feverish apprentice's movements. It was no use. Halt could not get the bone into the proper position without Will's pained spasms moving it again. Halt let out a shaky breath. There was only one option left to him.</p><p>"Will, if you can, hold this over your nose. And try not to breath too deeply," Halt said, passing Will another piece of cloth.</p><p>"Why?" Will asked between heavy, panting breaths. Halt reached down and grabbed the container of warmweed salve he had discarded before. Will grabbed Halt with his good arm with surprising strength and ferocity,</p><p>"You promised you wouldn't!"</p><p>"We don't have a choice," Halt responded, not looking Will in the eye. He could not bring himself to see the betrayal there. He once again unscrewed the lid, and the effect was far more profound now the salve was close to Will's face.</p><p>"I can't...I won't..." Will began to protest, but his words fell away into silence as he was overcome by the scent of the drug. His eyes flickered closed. Working as fast as he could, Halt applied the salve to where the break was. The warmweed, as well as the other herbs in the salve, would numb the area enough to free Will of the pain of the break.</p><p>"Give it to me," Will mumbled hazily.</p><p>"Give what to you?" Halt asked.</p><p>"The warmweed," Will responded slowly. His eyes were still closed.</p><p>"I don't have any. And you can't ingest this," Halt explained. Will's eyes opened and he grabbed Halt by his cloak, his face full of insistence. But Halt could not provide Will with what he didn't have. And even if he did, he would not give it to him.</p><p>"Fight it, Will. Fight it," Halt urged. Will's hand grabbed tighter, his wet eyes now burning with desperation.</p><p>"Warmweed," he said, both a statement and a demand. Halt shook his head. There was only one way he was going to snap Will out of this. Halt once again took hold of the bone, and with all the determination and strength he could muster, pushed it into place. The numbing of the salve saved Will from the worst of the pain, but not all of it. Without the cloth between his teeth, Will screamed. Halt could not fight back the tears this time. Before they could cloud his vision too much, he quickly set the splint and bandage on the apprentice's arm. The bone was now in the right position and would likely heal well, provided it was rested. Will fell back against the pillow, breathing hard.</p><p>"You did well, Will," Halt said with a heavy, emotional sigh. He was not sure if the apprentice had heard him, for it appeared the boy had passed out. Despite the pain, Halt knew it would have been far worse without the salve. Halt collapsed down into the chair opposite the couch, feeling as if all the strength had been sapped from his body. Halt buried his face in his grizzled hands, haunted by the look of sheer anguish on Will's face when the boy had demanded the warmweed. Halt looked back to his apprentice, and even while passed out, his face was still furrowed in distress. The deed had been done, but at what cost?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to everyone keeping up with this story and leaving reviews! I feel like I may want to change this chapter up a bit in the future because I'm not sure if I like it as much, but please leave a review if you did/didn't like how the story is going! I take all reviews into consideration. This story will probably continue on for a few more chapters, but it won't be extending too long. If I want to continue my perspective of Halt and Will's story in the future, it will likely be in the form of a sequel.</p>
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